Happy Hour at Mitchell's Fish Market

Mitchell's Fish Market

Monday - Thursday 11 am - 11 pm

Friday & Saturday 11 am - 12 am

Sunday 11 am - 10 pm

Happy Hour Sunday - Friday 4 pm - 7 pm

(sn: the website says that Happy Hour is now EVERYDAY)

Often I have found myself with friends in Winter Park around 5 o'clock in the evening and as always, we're usually hungry. One of the places I can never say no to is Mitchell's Fish Market. Tucked in a little corner just a block away from The Cheesecake Factory and Brio is this little gem of a seafood restaurant. I have never been to Mitchell's when it wasn't happy hour so I cannot comment on their normal menu anything other than two things: the menu changes daily (so there's always something new), but they're also quite pricey! I would very much recommend going between 4 and 7. I can't say that I've ever spent more than $30 there including food and alcohol. 

One of the things that is the most intriguing to me is the value of their drink selection! They have eight drinks that are all $5. You can also get select draft beers for $3. I've tried every specialty drink on the happy hour menu and let me tell you, none of them disappoint. My personal favorite is the Vermont Apple Martini-- although in my opinion it's more of a spin on a cosmo but we won't go there. This martini gets its apple-li-ness from the Absolut Apple Ginger flavored vodka and then it's shaken with cranberry juice (cosmo anyone?), ginger syrup, and fresh mint. It's garnished with pieces of crisp, green apple. I could drink these by the pitcher, but I guess that's not advised since they're basically vodka. My second favorite is the FM Mojito but there's nothing special about this one besides the $5 price tag and the absence of sour mix (that's a win, right?); I may be biased here when you take into consideration that a mojito is one of my "go to" drinks. 

The food at Mitchell's is something to note for sure! I am a complete snob when it comes to fish tacos, they have to be made perfectly. The only other grilled tacos I have liked as much as these are the ones you can find at Rocco's Tacos. Almost every time I go I must have the tacos, this time though I opted for more of a new variety. I hate to say that I wasn't thrilled with our choices. I chose the Lettuce Wraps and the Conch Fritters. My friend ordered the Fried Zucchini and the Shrimp Dumplings. My choices were flavorful, I just wasn't crazy about the peanuts on the wraps, it gave it a flavor I'm not too fond of, but it was a good healthy option. Of course in contrast to my healthy lettuce wraps I got something fried. The conch fritters were just okay. I think they could've had more flavor and I didn't like the sauce they were served with. My friend wasn't pleased with her food at all. The dumplings were... well, dumpling-y. I personally know I don't like dumplings of any kind, so I can't really give an opinion on them; she gave them a chance though. The zucchini fries were good, but she said they could've used more flavor. Our bartender also scared her by saying some of the "green ones" were jalapenos. This confused us because zucchini is green and none of them were particularly spicy. 

Like their regular menu, the Happy Hour menu changes frequently. The items we ordered were new to me, so they may not even be on the menu now. A few things that I always see though are things that are definitely worth your while and money. The warm pretzel bread is wonderful! Little soft pretzel nuggets served along side beer cheese. Yes, beer cheese. This cheese is so wonderful and it goes perfectly with the pretzel nuggets (or whatever else you have to put it on). The Spinach & Artichoke dip also never disappoints anyone, it's warm and flavorful, it's sure to leave you scraping the dish. The Spicy Crispy Shrimp is good (sort of bang-bang style), they also put it on tacos, so if you like shrimp tacos I would suggest that! Last but not least the Blackened Fish Tacos. These tacos are simple but flavorful. They have a mango salsa on top as well as a lime sour cream, two items I love on top of my favorite kind of taco!

So Mitchell's Fish Market is always winning in my day planner despite some bad menu choices. Their happy hour is reasonably priced and it provides quite the drink selection. I would give it a try if you've never been and I would go back if you have.